


Odd One Out

by RaenUE



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 17:15:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13462839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaenUE/pseuds/RaenUE
Summary: Sound can distort when it echoes, but what happens when an echo becomes self-aware?A brief exploration of the ‘meta’ nature of the characters added into Echoes, and of how Silque and Faye’s relationship may develop beyond the end of their supports.





	1. Chapter 1

Silque paused, wondering how she should go about this. Over the past week, she had dealt with many trials that she had never expected to do as a woman of the cloth; being captured by bandits, traversing monster infested catacombs, and, up until their victory a few hours ago, she had been working to undo a sudden military coup. But of all the things she’s had to do, this was what had proven to be the most challenging.

“Faye, do you have a moment?”

Among everyone present, Silque was the only who had no preexisting relationship with anyone else; Clive, Claire, Lucas, Python, and Forsyth were already members of The Deliverance, and Alm, Tobin, Grey, Kliff, and Faye had grown up together. Silque was, admittedly, lonely after leaving the priory, and had hoped to find some level of companionship with someone in their group. She had considered trying to befriend Claire, and while she had struck her as the kind of person who was willing to be friends with everyone, Silque felt she would have more in common with Faye, whose life in a farming village was far more comparable to Silque’s life on a fishing isle than Claire’s life as a noble.

Unfortunately for Silque, she had encountered a major roadblock in befriending Faye: she wasn’t Alm. Faye was only interested in their leader, and while Silque could fully understand why people would like him, she didn’t quite get why Faye was so utterly obsessed with him. Faye had responded positively to Silque’s attempt at kinship once she had suggested speaking about Alm, but today Silque wanted to discuss something else and she knew how quickly the conversation was likely to end.

“If it’s to talk about Alm, then sure!” Faye smiled, always ready to talk about her beloved.

“Actually, Faye,” Faye’s smile faltered, and Silque began to plead to Mother Milla for the patience to make it through this, “I was wondering if you’d be okay with talking about something else.”

“Hmmm…,” Faye put her hand to her chin, as if pretending to be deep in thought, “Normally I’d say no, but I got a letter today from my family back home asking if I’ve befriended anyone yet, and I don’t think I’d be a good friend if I only let you talk about things I wanted to talk about. What’s on your mind?”

Silque was shocked both by how easy that was and how Faye seemed to imply that she considered her a friend, but she quickly regained her composure.

“This may seem like an odd question, but have you ever had déjà vu?”

“What’s that?” Faye tilted her head to the side slightly, her tone indicating that she genuinely didn’t know what Silque was speaking of.

“The best way to describe it is that it’s the sense that you’ve done something before, or that your surroundings are familiar, even though you know it’s the first time experiencing it. Some people think it’s just your memory playing tricks on you, but some also think that it’s a sign of something like reincarnation.”

“Up until now I hadn’t ever left Ram Village, so I guess I really didn’t have many chances for new experiences to think that I remember, but I don’t think I ever have. Why do you ask?”

“This past week I’ve had a very strong sense of déjà vu, but there are a couple things that are almost equally unfamiliar.”

“Like what?”

“I can remember being captured and held in Thieves’ Shrine, but the interior felt… wrong, somehow. I suppose the best way to think of it would be if you returned home one day to find all of the furniture in different positions. It’d still be in the same physical location, but it would also be something distinctly different from what you’re used to.”

“That does seem odd. What else seemed off?”

“Do you remember the device I gave to Alm? From Celica?”

Faye frowned, “That thing was from _her_?”

Silque’s hope that this conversation would end on a positive note disappeared. Did Faye know Celica? Was there some sort of rivalry between the two? Celica had never mentioned Faye, but given how she spoke of Alm and how Alm seemed almost indifferent to Faye, could it be possible that Faye was the losing side of a love triangle from long ago?

“I’m sorry if I struck a nerve. I’m not sure what your relationship with her is, but for what it’s worth, I haven’t yet told Alm who it was from. We can keep it that way, if you’d like…?”

Faye remained silent, and took a deep breath, her expression softening as she exhaled, “…I’m sorry, Silque. It was unfair of me to expect you to have known that I don’t really like her. I’d appreciate it if you kept it a secret from him, though.”

“It’ll be our secret, then. Would you like me to avoid mentioning her in the future?”

Faye once again paused, deep in thought, “As much as I’d like to say yes, I think you shouldn’t try to avoid speaking of her. I’m not going to be the only person out there who likes Alm, and if I pretend otherwise it’s not going to help me. I should start being honest to myself about these things, and this can be my first step towards that!” Faye’s smile returned, possibly excited about the possibility of improving herself.

“Okay, I can do that then,” Silque breathed a sigh of relief, surprised -but also happy- that Faye was starting to act a bit more maturely, “So, while I can remember being rescued by Alm and joining up with the Deliverance, the Turnwheel is also something that was new.”

“But didn’t you bring it here all the way from Novis?”

“Well, that’s just the thing. Traveling towards Ram Village was something that was familiar, yet doing it in order to deliver the Turnwheel wasn’t.”

“That’s certainly odd, but I think I have to ask what this has to do with me.”

Silque hesitated, unsure how to broach this topic. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with Faye, and-

“Silque?” Faye asked again.

Silque’s mind was racing. How should she, how could she say-

“Silque?! What does this have to do with me?!” Faye raised her voice, it beginning to tremble with uncertainty.

“Out of everyone in this army and everyone I’ve met you’re the only person who is entirely unfamiliar,” Silque blurted out, in a panic.

“E-excuse me?” Faye sputtered, her stance faltering for a moment before it fell apart, collapsing to the ground in a crumpled heap. 


	2. Chapter 2

Faye had, in a way, always felt that she didn’t fit in. When she was younger, Tobin and Grey had constantly teased her, and Kliff had always given her the cold shoulder. Alm was the only one among them who had really given her the time of day, and while she’d normally never admit this, she had always suspected it was just because he was a genuinely nice person and didn’t want to hurt others. While she had brushed this treatment off as the result of her being the only girl among them, for the week Celica had been at the village they couldn’t have treated her any differently. So, what if it wasn’t ‘just’ because she was a girl? What if it was something else? What if-

“-aye…………Faye!” Silque’s voice reached her from someplace far away, causing Faye to wake with a start.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re awake,” Silque exclaimed, standing over her. Faye found herself lying in a bed in a different room of Zofia Castle, and the change of scenery severely disoriented her.

“Are you alright, Faye?” Faye turned to see Alm on the other side of her, “Silque told me you suddenly collapsed in the central hall.”

“I… I’m alright,” Faye lied through her teeth, “Would you mind leaving for a moment? I have something I need to discuss with Silque.”

“…Sure. I’ll finish looking around the castle, then,” Alm sounded entirely unconvinced, and while Faye felt guilty for lying to him, there was something she didn’t want him to hear.

Faye waited a couple seconds after he left the room before she began to speak, but Silque beat her to the punch.

“Faye, I’m so sorry. I should have been more-”

“It’s not your fault,” Faye lifted herself up, moving into a sitting position, “or, even if it is I don’t blame you.”

Silque hesitated for a moment, and Faye took the chance to gather her thoughts and brace herself for the possibility of getting answers she wouldn’t like.

“I’m not sure what happened back there, but I’d like to finish our conversation from earlier.”

“Are you sure? That-”

“Silque, I understand that you’re concerned for me, but I’d like to know some things.”

“Like what?”

“Have you discussed this with anyone else?”

Silque looked away.

“Silque,” Faye did her best to make her voice firm, but she could tell that her tone betrayed her anxiety, “I understand that you’re concerned about whatever happened back there but right now I need you to be honest with me. Have you discussed this with anyone else?”

Silque, once again, hesitated, but eventually relented “…Yes.”

“With who?”

“Only Kliff and Python. I thought they’d be the least likely to think I was trying to mess with them.”

“Did they have the same feeling? That everything else was familiar except for me?”

“…Yes. Python mentioned something about ‘Clive’s man-child of a boyfriend’, but both he and Kliff specifically mentioned you not being a part of their déjà vu.”

Faye’s stomach dropped.

“Faye, I’m sorry that I told-”

“That’s not the problem here!” Faye yelled.

“…Faye, I don’t mean to pry into a topic that you’re sensitive about, but is it alright if I ask what the problem with it is? I’d like to help you, but I feel like we’re not on the same page.”

“…I need a moment to gather my thoughts,” Faye looked away from Silque, her face flushed with embarrassment, “I… I’m sorry for shouting.”

“Faye, please, don’t worry about it. You’re not the kind of person who usually yells, so I know that you only yell when you need to.”

“Can we… go for a walk? I’d like to get out of this castle.”

“Sure. There’s a forest a bit to the east where I doubt we’d be disturbed if you’d like some privacy…?”

“That sounds good,” Faye faked a smile, but nonetheless genuinely appreciated the concern Silque was showing for her.

* * *

 

Faye and Silque had been walking for a good hour or so, making it deep into the forest. While the sun hadn’t quite begun to set yet, their shadows stretched further and further away from them and served as a reminder that night was fast approaching. Faye paused as they entered a clearing.

“I think this is a good place to stop.”

“I had passed through this meadow on my way to Ram Village. That’s quite the coincidence, huh?”

Faye tried to force a chuckle, but couldn’t bring herself to. She felt guilty that Silque was trying so hard to make her feel better and that she just wasn’t feeling it.

“Let’s sit in the middle, and we can talk when you’re ready to, alright?”

Faye nodded, and they walked over, taking a seat on a patch of ground that contained no rocks, roots, or other objects that may cause undue discomfort.

A moment passed, and that moment became a few, and then many. Faye was aware of Silque breathing next to her, slow, steady, and with purpose when compared to Faye’s rapid and irregular breaths. The smell of dirt, the faint scent of pollen, the slight breeze; Faye took it all in and let herself relax a bit. Slowly but surely, her breathing slowed to match Silque’s pace, and Faye finally felt ready to speak.

“Am I… Should I be here?”

“Are you having doubts about joining the Deliverance? Not a lot of people are able to handle taking part in war, and I don’t think anyone would think less of you for deciding that it isn’t for you.”

Faye paused, trying to find the right way to word what she meant.

“I mean… Should I exist?”

“What do you mean by that? I’m not sure if this is what you’d like to hear, but The Mother doesn’t put people here without reason.”

“This is hard to put into words, but… if you all had really experienced this before and I’m the odd one out, am I some sort of interloper? Should I not be here? Do I have any right to be here?” Faye’s voice began to waver, the calm she welcomed into her body slowly beginning to disappear.

“Faye… I didn’t realize…”

“I mean, it’s not your fault, Silque,” The words began to flow, and Faye made no attempt to stop them, “I’ve always doubted if I really belonged, but it’s never been on such a …cosmic level. I’ve tried to just not think about it before but it gnaws and gnaws away at my resolve and I don’t think that I’d be able to bear not knowing anymore and if I keep holding it in it’ll just make me a burden to everyone since it’ll keep eating away at me and if I’m not supposed to be here then do I have any right to love Alm I mean I really really do love him but if I’m some sort of outsider then can I really say that I-I-I-,” the emotions welling up within Faye finally reached a breaking point, and she began to cry.

Faye cried, and cried, and cried. The tears kept coming, and, at some point, Silque had wrapped her arms around her. Faye felt the pressure of Silque’s chest against her own back, the warmth radiating from her body, and found it comforting. The contact grounded her in reality, and, while she let the tears flow, it reminded her that despite all her fears, she wasn’t alone in this world.

Eventually, Faye allowed her emotions to stabilize, and the sobbing ceased.

“How are you feeling, Faye?”

“A little better, I guess,” Faye still felt like garbage, but her breakdown was nonetheless cathartic, and the support Silque had silently given her did help as well.

“Is it alright if I add my thoughts on the matter?”

Faye wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, “…Go ahead.”

“I don’t have all the answers, and while The Mother may, she doesn’t always share them with us. It may be of some comfort, but not everyone has some sort of divine purpose. There are people who are bound by the wheel of fate, given a grand destiny that they’ve chosen to follow, but there are a lot of people who just… aren’t. There are many people on Novis who fish for a living and don’t do much else, and while that’s not the most glamorous lifestyle, very few of them seemed dissatisfied with it. I’m not saying that striving for better isn’t a worthwhile endeavor, but sometimes it’s also worthwhile to find a way to be satisfied with what ‘is’ instead of focusing on ‘what could be’ or ‘what should be’. Faye, you’re here, right now, sitting with me. You’re as real as anyone else, and I think that you may find comfort focusing on the fact that you _are_ here rather than focusing on if you should be. I don’t think anybody in the Deliverance minds that you’ve joined, and even if they do, you’ve been more than enough of a help to warrant letting you stay. You exist, Faye, and, at least for me, that’s enough reason to justify why you _should_ exist.”

Faye paused, soaking in what Silque had just said.

“I’m sorry if that wasn’t what you wanted to hear, Faye,” Silque said, releasing Faye from her warm embrace.

“No, it’s… it’s just a lot to think about. I hadn’t really thought about it that way, but I think what you’ve said is… going to help. Maybe not right away, but it’s… a better way to look at things.”

The sat in silence as Faye continued to think about what Silque said.

“Thanks, Silque. You’ve been more patient with me than I have been with you, and… I’m sorry about that. You’ve been a really great friend, and I hope I can be a better one in the future.”

“This is something that has clearly been worrying you for a while, and I’m just happy to help someone in need,” Silque stood up and extended her hand to Faye, “If we don’t start heading back soon, we’ll be out after nightfall.”

“We wouldn’t want to worry everyone,” Faye grabbed Silque’s outstretched hand and pulled herself to her feet.

‘Alm is great,’ Faye thought to herself with a smile as they began the trek back, ‘but Silque is pretty alright too.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “What if the characters in Echoes were, on some subconscious level, aware of the events of Gaiden?”  
> This was an idea I’ve been toying with for a while now, and I’ve finally gotten around to making something out of it. To get this to work the way I wanted, I messed around a bit with the pacing of Faye and Silque’s supports, and took some considerable liberties with Faye’s character, but other than that this is meant to be “vanilla Echoes”. It’s difficult to pace “Faye has and subsequently recovers from an existential crisis” well for something under 3000 words (let alone something that’s shorter than a full-fledged novel), but I’m relatively satisfied with how this turned out for the length that it is. There were some parts that I felt could have been expanded on if this was longer (Faye’s sudden, inexplicable sense of remorse regarding everything being one of them), but I don’t really feel like the number of scenes I would have to add to make it ‘work’ would justify the time and effort it would take to write them.  
> This is my first serious attempt at mixing dialogue and narration, so if you have any tips on how I could improve my technique they’d be greatly appreciated!


End file.
